Government rejects construction plans because houses aren’t expensive enough
Ipswich Borough Council are left shocked as the Government rejects housing plans because they contained ‘too much’ affordable housing.
The decision was made by an independent Planning Inspector that proposals for 94 affordable homes at Ravenswood should go ahead.
The proposals were to build 68 houses for affordable rent, 24 homes for shared ownership and two specialist homes for social rent.
The plans were scuppered however when they were called in by the Government and have since been rejected by the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government.
The ruling raised concerns that the housing project was “not truly integrated into market housing”.
Council Leader David Ellesmere said: “The Secretary of State has now blocked the application on the grounds that the development should contain more homes for sale.
He said: “This is an astonishing decision. I cannot think of another case in the country where a planning application has been turned down because the housing wasn’t expensive enough.”
The problems don’t end there however, as it’s likely that the time the Government have taken to arrive at this decision means that the Council will lose millions of pounds worth of rent, grants and construction costs.
The Council will now consider the Government’s decision before taking their next steps.
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